Cooling circulating system for marine engines



Jan. 14, 1941. B, DRAPEAU 2,228,446

COOLING CIRCULATING SYSTEM FOR MARINE ENGINES Filed May 25, 1957 Patented Jan. 14, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COGLING'CIRCULATING SYSTEM FOR MARINE ENGINES Harold B. Drapcau, Oak Park, 111., assignor to The Dole Valve Company, Chicago, Ill.', a corporation of Illinois Application May. 25, 1937, SerialNo: 144,726.

2 Claims. (Cl. 123-178) This invention relates to cooling circulating the water jacket in any desired manner as by systems for marine engines andhas for its objectv means of the fittings l and H. A by-pass l2 to provide a new and improved system of this connects'the outlet and inlet of the engine water description. jacket. In the construction shown in Fig. 1, V The invention has as a further object to prothe reservoir 1" communicates with the by-pass vide a circulating system for marine engines l2 and the pipe 5 and the by-pass l2 communiwhich will be cheap to construct and efiicient in cates with the fitting l0 and a thermostat I3 is operation. located in the fitting II beyond the end of by- In the usual marine engines the water for coolpass. This thermostat may be of any desired H ing the engine is taken from the water in which form and I have illustrated a balanced thermom the boat is traveling and forced through the enstat having. a casing l4, see Fig. 2, with a bleeder gine jacket by a pump and then forced out. into opening 22 and two ports I5 and I6 controlled by the water in which the boat is traveling. This the valve. members H and I8. These valve memmakes it difiicult to provide a. thermostatically bers are located on a member 2| to which is con 1.: controlled system because the pressure exerted netted. a thermostatic element i9 located in the by the pump: causes the thermostat to open. path of the water which passes through the by- One of the objects of the present invention is pass l2. This balanced valve has an auxiliary to provide a circulatory system for marine enmember 2'G f0r the purpose of taking care of the gines by means of which a thermostat can. be pressure due tothe flowing of the water through used and which will be free of the objections the valve to maintain its proper balanced condi- 26* heretofore present in such systems. tion. In the construction shown in Figure 3, The invention has further objects which are instead'of having a reservoir 1, the by-pass [2 more particularly pointed out in the accompanyis provided with'an enlargement la which coning description. tains water. Referring now to the drawing: In-these marine engines, when the engine is 2-5 Figure 1 is a view showing one form of marine stopped the pump stops andthe water drainsout engines embodying the invention; of theengine jacket; If the by-pass, for exam- Figure 2 is a. sectional view at the point where pie, is connected to the pipe 5,'the engine when the water is discharged from the engine jacket; started up, the pump being also then started up,

30 and the pump will draw air and hence no water will 30 Figure 3 is a view with parts broken away be pumped into the engine jacket. and the engine showing a modified construction. become. overheated and injured and perhaps Like numerals refer to like parts throughout destroyed. The essential thing in this constructhe specification and drawing. tion is to provide means for preventing this con- Referring now to the drawing wherein I have dition, and I have illustrated a means wherein I 35 shown one form of device embodying the invenprovide a water seal for the by-pass, thus intion, there is illustrated one form of marine suring the pump always drawing water when it engine I, having an engine cooling jacket 2 is first started up. through which the cool water is circulated to If the cold water taken from the body of water 9 cool the engine. These engines may be any form in which the boat is located, is pumped directly of engine, including Diesel engines. As herein into the engine water jacket, the water in the shown, the water is drawn by means of a pump engine water jacket will have a wide temperature 3, which is shown as a gear pump, through the difference at the point of entrance and the point strainer 4 which communicates with the Water of discharge from the water jacket. This not in which the boat is traveling. The Water passes only sets up injurious stresses in the engine, but through the pipe 5 to the pump 3. There is a adversely affects the engine performance. By pipe 6 leading from the pump to the engine means of the present device, this evil is elimijacket. In the construction shown in Figure 1, nated, for the water in the by-pass when the there is a reservoir 1 which connects with the engine is operating, provides means for preheatpipe 5 for containing water. This reservoir, or ing the intake water by mixing with it, and this at least the bottom portion of it, is located below substantially equalizes the temperatures at the the water line B of the water in which the boat engine jacket inlet and an outlet during actual is traveling. There is a discharge pipe 9 through operation. which water, as hereafter set out, is discharged The use and operation of my invention are as from the water jacket. This pipe connects with follows: When the device for example shown in 55 Figure 1 is in operation, the pump pumps the water through the engine jacket and through the by-pass, thus recirculating the water. When the water reaches a predetermined temperature, that is, a temperature at which it is desired to have the engine operate, the thermostat l9 opens the valve members I! and I8 and heated water is discharged through the pipe 9 out to the outside of the boat. Cold water is then drawn by the pump through the strainer 4, and this cools down the water in the jacket and causes the thermostat l9 to close the valves I1 and Hi. It will thus be seen that there is an automatic action whereby the water in the engine jacket is prevented from becoming too hot so as to cause the engine to be overheated. Furthermore, without the bypass, if the engine is stopped when it is hot, the hot water will drain out and if the engine is started again the cold water will strike the hot engine and may cause damage. When the bypass is used, nothing of this kind happens because warm water will be maintained in the reservoir I or the pipe la, due to the fact that it is below the water level, and when the engine starts up, the warm water will be mingled with cold water so as to prevent the water from being cold enough to injure the engine, and this will continue until the proper amount of cold Water is drawn in, whereupon the water will be recirculated as before described.

In marine engines the pumps usually used are the positive pressure type on account of the lift of the water required and the excessive pressure must be relieved by some means. The bypass I construction as herein shown accomplishes this purpose, as when the engine jacket is filled with water, the pump then simply recirculates this water without producing any excessive pressure. Furthermore, when the engine is in operation, the warm water is recirculated by means of the bypass construction herein shown and the only water discharged from the engine jacket is that discharged when the temperature rises above the temperature for which the thermostat is set. When this water is discharged through pipe 9 by the opening of the thermostatically controlled valve, then water is drawn up from the outside source of supply through the strainer to replenish the discharged water. The water in the bypass mingles with this cold, new water and raises its temperature so that when it enters the engine jacket, the temperature will be comparatively high and will not be much lower than the temperature at the outlet of the engine cooling jacket. In other words, this construction provides a means, when the engine is in operation, for preheating the water before it enters the engine water cooling jacket and utilizes the heat of the engine for this purpose. When the reservoirs 1 and la are below the water line, as herein shown, this prevents an air lock, that is it insures the priming of the pump under all conditions. This will be seen when it is noted that the water cannot run out of the reservoir when the engine stops, but there will always be water in the reservoir and a water connection from the pump and the reservoir to the outside source of water.

I claim:

1. A cooling circulating system for marine engines having a water jacket, comprising a water pipe leading from the water in which the boat is located to the water jacket of the engine, a pump in said pipe, a pipe for discharging the water from the engine jacket, when the temperature of the water in the engine jacket reaches a predetermined point, the pump drawing in cold water to replace the water discharged, a by-pass connecting said discharge pipe with the Water pipe, and a water reservoir located below the water line and intermediate the by-pass and the water pipe into which warm water from the engine jacket is received and which mixes with the cold water inserted into the engine jacket by the pump, whereby the cold water is tempered to prevent injury tothe engine.

2. A cooling circulating system for marine engines, having a water jacket, comprising a water pipe leading from the water in which the boat is located to the water jacket of the engine, a pump in said pipe, a pipe for discharging water from the system when the temperature thereof reaches a predetermined point, means for automatically supplying additional cold water -to take the place of the water discharged from the system, a reservoir for warm water, below the water line of the water in which the boat is located, a connection from said reservoir to the pipe leading from the water in which the boat is located to the water jacket of the engine and a pipe leading from the water jacket of the engine to said reservoir to maintain a supply of warm water therein, which mixes with and tempers the additional cold water which takes the place of the water discharged from the system.

HAROLD B. DRAPEAU. 

